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Driver of stalled pickup finds slithering surprise

The Associated Press

Posted:
07/11/2014 02:19:31 PM EDT

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This image provided by the Santa Fe Police Department shows a 20-pound brown and yellow python that was found on an engine block Thursday July 10, 2014 in Santa Fe, N.M. The animal was taken to a local animal shelter with minor injuries. (AP Photo/Santa Fe Police Department)

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — When a woman's pickup stalled on a street in Santa Fe, New Mexico, local chef Jackson Ault stopped to lend a hand.

Ault and the driver both ended up with a surprise Thursday when Ault popped the hood and found a brown and yellow python slithering across the engine block.

A police lieutenant responded to a call for help. He retrieved the 20-pound snake.

The python was taken to the Santa Fe Animal Shelter, where spokesman Ben Swan says the reptile has minor injuries but otherwise is in good shape.

Police say the snake likely crawled into the pickup at the motorist's home several blocks from where the vehicle stalled. And Ault says he thinks the truck stalled because the snake dislodged an electrical wire.